Schools are out of step on 'freak' fad

Published 10:00 pm, Friday, December 2, 2005

The freakiest thing about freak dancing and kids is the adults who want to ban the dance form outright.

There are no thoughtful discussions taking place. Nor are good-faith efforts being made to wade through the hysteria.

The reaction has become a closed case of no ifs, ands or buts to butts that bop, shimmy and bounce as torsos writhe to a hip-hop beat.

Scrub public school dances clean of this libidinal suggestiveness, and hormone-raging kids won't rush home and rip off their clothes. That'll make parents everywhere sleep easier.

Yeah, right.

Naïve thinking wins out when school districts act in such a knee-jerk fashion, pulling the plug on a dance form considered to be lewd or sexually simulating. Officials in the Seattle Public Schools are looking to fall into this mind-numbing Puritanism by putting in place tough rules against a form of pelvic motion. The district wants students to dance "according to what reasonable people would consider appropriate."

Hmmm ...

Some "reasonable people" consider freak dancing to be the tango of today, just the way kids socialize. They say uptight folks should stop their whining and let this generation of youths embrace the craze the way their parents and grandparents bopped to rock 'n' roll when it was "the devil's music."

Other "reasonable people" say freak dancing crosses the line of decency, putting kids too close together. People tend to recall their first slow dance and their first kiss but who romantically reminisces over their first freak? Also, students who may not want strangers rubbing up against them shouldn't be made to feel uncomfortable at a school function, critics point out.

There are merits on all sides of the debate. From where I sit, freak dancing is a fast way to throw out a hip. What troubles me most is how the Seattle schools are ignoring an opportunity for a "teaching moment."

Public schools are supposed to prepare young students in ways to deal with issues far thornier than freak dancing. Good approaches to problem solving will last long after this dance fad fades.

So far, though, the message being sent to kids is this: If something makes people uncomfortable, just ban it.

Where are the constructive public discussions that get at the heart of freak dancing? Where are the efforts to bring together student leaders, parents and teachers to set up freak dancing rules of etiquette that everyone can agree on without taking the fun out of school dances? Where's the show of respect for youths?

These questions are going unanswered. Meanwhile, young people are becoming confused as they soak up cultural cues from MTV and Paris Hilton that tell them it's OK to get their freak on. This confusion grows into resentment when school officials respond by hurling down a moral bolt of lightning. Thou Shall Not Freak.

If the public schools want to show leadership in this matter, officials could frame it in a way that makes students see freak dancing in a different light.

School assemblies, where experts talk about the objectification of women in our hypersexual society, might open eyes. What may look on the surface like fun and carefree dancing may have deeper impacts, as people on the dance floor become pleasure objects to be rubbed on, bent over or front piggybacked.

The district could ask students how they would feel if they saw their siblings, teachers or -- heaven forbid -- parents bumping and grinding like orgiastic chimps. The kids might be grossed out. They might think twice.

The district could even talk about the type of hip-hop music that feeds the frenzy. People go bonkers when they hear certain songs. For this reason, some districts have opted to use "clean hip-hop" at dances to reduce the freakiness.

The point is that without meaningful dialogue, the kind of constructive efforts occurring elsewhere won't happen here.

Students in Michigan proposed a quiz on dance-floor conduct that students must pass to get into dances. In Pennsylvania, young people worked with school officials to write dance rules that said no straddling or lying down. Some kids have adopted a mantra: "Dance face-to-face and leave some space."

Young people are smart. If we give them a hand -- and a bit of knowledge -- they can lead adults to a reasonable solution.

Lowering a freak dance ban with no attempt to explore other alternatives will only alienate students. They'll stop going to dances. They'll go elsewhere, far away from adult supervision, and get into stuff that really gives grown-ups reasons to freak out.